# confound

> English word · Verb · IPA /kənˈfaʊnd/ · frequency rank #44,133

## Definitions
1. To perplex or puzzle.
2. To stun or amaze.
3. To fail to see the difference; to mix up; to confuse right and wrong.
4. To make something worse.
5. To combine in a confused fashion; to mingle so as to make the parts indistinguishable.
6. To cause to be ashamed; to abash.
7. To defeat, to frustrate, to thwart.
8. To damn (a mild oath).
9. To destroy, ruin, or devastate; to bring to ruination.

## Etymology
From Middle English confounden (“destroy, ruin, perplex”), from Anglo-Norman cunfundre and Old French confondre, from Latin cōnfundō (“to mingle, mix together”). Related to found (“to melt (metals in a foundry)”) (but not to found (“to start”), nor to find) and to fusion.

## Easily confused with
- **confounded** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confound-vs-confounded)
- **compound** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/compound-vs-confound)

## Common misspellings (12)
`cconfound`, `cnofound`, `cofnound`, `conffound`, `confonud`, `confoudn`, `confoundd`, `confounnd`, `confuond`, `connfound`, `conofund`, `ocnfound`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/confound